Arsenal v Manchester City - Carabao Cup 2017-18 Final: 5-Point Preview 

#3 Road to the final

Arsenal would probably not have been here if not for this guy, Eddie Nketiah

Both teams battled, in their own peculiar ways, towards getting a ticket to Wembley. When it comes to the difficulty of the opponents, Arsenal arguably had the tougher road, having had the challenge of navigating through Chelsea over two legs in the semifinal.

However, City had to face a different challenge, having been made to work hard and go through penalty shoot-outs in a couple of matches.

Both teams faced the possibility of being knocked out in the 4th round, and that resulted in the emergence of two unlikely heroes. The Gunners were five minutes away from another exit before the quarterfinal stage when 18-year old Eddie Nketiah took it upon himself and scored a brace to ensure progression.

On the same night, City’s League Cup number 1, Claudio Bravo had a heroic night as he strung up a series of saves both in normal time and in the penalty shootout to avoid a shocking home defeat to send City through to the quarterfinal.

With a lot at stake in the final, both players might end up not playing the match, but without their timely and efficient contributions, this Wembley date between the two teams would not have been possible.